Thursday, January 7, 2010

Slug It Out

45 record portrait of The Slugs as young men.

The Slugs have been involved with the Chicago music scene in one form or another for over two decades now. Like Frosty the Snowman, group members singer-guitarist Dag Juhlin, bassist-vocalist Greg Juhlin, and drummer Mike Halston sometimes go away for awhile, or appear in the form of another band like Poi Dog Pondering or The Goldstars, but as sure as Chicago turns cold in January, The Slugs have come back to us. There won’t be a parade downtown, but the band will be part of Pravda Records’ 25th Anniversary Bash at The Abbey Pub on Chicago’s northwest side on January 22nd.

The Slugs hadn’t signed on with Pravda yet when they released the 45 “Walking In Circles” b/w “Give Me A Sunday” on Susstones Records in 1986. The A side, with Dag Juhlin’s ringing guitar and rough hewn vocals, was similar to “Do Anything You Wanna Do” by Eddie & The Hot Rods, while the mid-tempo B side sounded like Elvis Costello.

The band’s full length debut, Non-Stop Holiday, released two years later on Pravda, was filled with high-energy power pop/punk gems like “Beat City,” “Big Red Naked Guitar,” and “Romeo Sings A Song.” The Slugs took some time to create a follow-up with Fort Fun in 1992, and it would be another eight years before the CD Junior came out. The Slugs dedicated Junior to Phil Bonnet, who had passed away shortly after co-producing the CD with them.

In my Illinois Entertainer review in 2000, I noted that Junior showcased Dag Juhlin’s continued growth as a songwriter. “Margaret” mixed acoustic and electric guitars in an energetic country-flavored arrangement while the even more adventurous “Little Rusty” incorporated wicked slide guitar into a hard-edged satire of a media-hyped rock star. “Slide” and “Neverland” found The Slugs in more familiar territory, cranking out high velocity pop songs with great melodies.

The Slugs promised on a recent promo video on Facebook that they would play all their fans’ favorites at the Pravda Anniversary Show at The Abbey. And you can’t complain about The Service, another veteran punk/power pop band who’ll be helping Pravda celebrate its anniversary. The Service’s keyboards player Kenn Goodman should be particularly happy to participate since he’s the label’s founder. Roots rock band Boom Hank, whose CDs include their debut Nuisance and the more recently released and oddly named Ishly Ghost Fly Your E & Y, will no doubt add to a rollicking night of fun.

Finally, congratulations to Pravda Records for its continued dedication to promoting indie rock talent. For 25 years, it’s given us not only The Slugs, The Service, and Boom Hank, but also artists like The Goldstars, New Duncan Imperials, Young Fresh Fellows, Susan Voelz, The Sleepers, The Farmers, and Cheer Accident.

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About This Blog

Broken Hearted Toy is an eclectic celebration of creativity, with over 2,000 posts since 2009.

It's based in Chicago but covers power pop, garage, cutting-edge, and 1960s rock from around the globe; along with occasional bits on art; literature; and theatre.

Top of the hill is a nice place to be at. - - - "Elevated Observations" by The Hollies.

Check out some of my previoius creative endeavors.

Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff was a weekly Internet show created by and starring Jeff Kelley. It mostly consisted of comedy bits and obscure 1960s garage rock set to vintage TV and film clips but also spotlighted entertainment events around Illinois.

My wife Pam and I created a handful of series (each episode was about two minutes long) that were shown on Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. They included Manchester Gallery (see description below); Old Days, which I hosted in the persona of a cranky old man named Fritz Willoughby; Roving Reporter, where I played the clueless title character; What's With Terry?, a performance arts program; and Hanging With The Hollies, a takeoff on Breakfast With The Beatles.

I've also worked with Kelley and Willy Deal on comedy clips, and with Kelley and David Metzger on films for the annual Nightmare on Chicago Street Halloween festival in Elgin.

I'm particularly proud of this 21-episode comedy series Pam and I created for Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. Each installment was a few minutes long, and featured me portraying Terrence, the curator of a pop culture museum.

I was a staff writer for this Chicago-based magazine from 1987 to 2015. The Illinois Entertainer has been covering rock music for over 40 years, and can be found in stores and entertainment venues, as well as in an online edition.

Chicago Art Machine was a web-based publishing company run by Editor-in-Chief, Kathryn Born, and Managing Editor, Robin Dluzen, that included Chicago Art Magazine, Chicago DIY Film,Chicago Performance And Trailers, and TINC. Most of my submissions appeared in Chicago DIY Film and Chicago Performance And Trailers, although I contributed to all the online Chicago Art Machine publications.

I was a writer and performer with this local comedy group from 1989 to 2009. Famous In The Future continues to perform in the Chicago area, and appeared at every one of the Abbie Hoffman Died For Our Sinstheatre festivals that were held at the Mary-Arrchie Theatre. Since the closing of the Mary-Arrchie Theatre a few years ago, Famous In The Future has carried on the tradition by presenting Yippie Fest each year in August.

I'm an active member of SCBWI, (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) and have written two Middle Grade fantasy novels. I've just finished a YA/paranormal novel, and also wrote a suspense/satiric novel that takes place amidst Chicago's alternative music scene in the mid-1980s.

Broken Hearted Toy

The blog title comes from the line, "I'm the brokenhearted toy you play with" in the song "I Can't Let Go" by The Hollies. One of the great original British Invasion bands, The Hollies continue to have an immense influence on power pop bands to this day, and have finally been inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here is a video of "I Can't Let Go" being performed in 1966.